Why peacetime repair ships struggle for funding

Would a repair ship be a useful peacetime force multiplier?

Yes, especially on prolonged deployments, but nearby shore facilities make the additional ship difficult to justify in a peacetime budget.

Months-long deployments and non-peer conflicts create real maintenance demands even in peacetime. Ships enforcing the Cuban Missile Crisis quarantine provide one example of combatants that could benefit from staying on station. The difficulty is political: legislators can point to nearby facilities in Florida and ask why a separate support ship is necessary. A repair vessel may preserve availability yet still lose funding when shore repair appears close enough.